All posts tagged New Hampshire

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — It was quickly apparent here Friday night that Mitt Romney’s campaign is no longer in friendly New Hampshire.

At a veterans-themed campaign event, the former Massachusetts governor, a Mormon, was asked by an audience member if he believes in the “divine saving grace of Jesus Christ.”

“Yes, I do,” Mr. Romney replied before noting that the U.S. welcomes all religions.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a Romney supporter, delivered a stern defense of Mr. Romney’s days at Bain Capital, the subject of attacks by his GOP rivals. And John Bolton, the former ambassador to the U.N. and the campaign’s latest high-profile backer, said President Barack Obama does not deserve credit for killing Osama Bin Laden.

“It’s because Navy SEAL Team Six killed Osama Bin Laden,” Mr. Bolton said. “In 1969, when Americans landed on the moon, it’s like Richard Nixon taking for credit for that, because it happened to occur during his presidency. The fact of the matter is this president has been a failure across the board in foreign policy.” Read More »

Fresh from his victory in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney heads to South Carolina along with the rest of the GOP Republican presidential field. As Neil King Jr. and Gerald F. Seibwrite in today’s Wall Street Journal, Mr. Romney travels south “with significant advantages in a field where no single opponent seems well-positioned to stop him or become the obvious alternative to him.”

South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 21, is a different battleground for the Republican hopefuls, and not nearly as friendly territory for Mr. Romney as New Hampshire. Still, he’s up by nearly 11 points, according to Real Clear Politics poll average in the Palmetto State.

What’s to expect?

Ron Fournier at National Journal labels Mr. Romney’s New Hampshire win “a victory Mitt-igated,” writing that the time between his squeaker of a win in the Iowa caucuses and the vote in New Hampshire “exposed his existential vulnerability: Romney is easily cast as a cold-hearted phony.”

The caricature isn’t new or entirely fair, but the GOP presidential front-runner gave his desperate rivals fresh ammunition in New Hampshire: Romney said he liked being able to “fire people who provide services to me”; he claimed to have once worried about being laid off; he suggested that it’s best to get rich before running for president; and he seemed to stretch the truth about attack ads and about his motives for leaving the Massachusetts governor’s office…

All else equal, South Carolina should be a romp, given Romney’s momentum, organizational might, and establishment credentials. If he wins South Carolina and his third-straight race, it would be virtually impossible to deny Romney the nomination. But thanks to his ham-handed New Hampshire campaign, there are doubts…. Read More »

While few noticed, President Barack Obama cruised to an easy victory in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, though a baker’s dozen of others on the ballot and write-in candidates garnered about 18% of the vote.

Ed Cowan of Waterbury, Vt., came in first among the also-rans. His campaign website pushes an environmental theme, and suggests asking “prominent politicians and other prominent people clever Socratic questions designed to expose the ubiquitous clouds of hypocrisy that now obscure public debate.” The one he’s most itching to ask concerns “the nuclear-tipped arms race… the only problem that can destroy us (with ozone coming up quickly on the outside rail) and because by solving it, we can save trillions of dollars.”

Next up: Vermin Supreme, who has run in New Hampshire three times before. The bearded Mr. Supreme calls himself a “friendly fascist.” Forget the chicken in every pot, he promises to subsidize a pony for everyone.

A series of write-in candidates and even lesser lights got the rest.

The White House used the campaign to try to get its general-election message across, deploying Vice President Joe Biden to thank New Hampshire Democrats for voting. Speaking on a video teleconference Tuesday night, Mr. Biden addressed more than 25 house parties in 24 Granite State cites, a campaign official said, according to a White House pool report… Read More »

MANCHESTER, N.H. –Six months of town halls, diner drive-bys and roller-coaster polls, tens of millions in ad spending, has all come down to this. A day-long procession of candidates are visiting the Webster School polling place to greet voters, in one final, two-minute stop during the first-in-the-nation, survival-of-the-fittest New Hampshire primary.

Jon Huntsman and his wife, Mary Kaye, talk to the press after greeting voters outside a polling station at Webster School in Manchester, N.H., Jan. 10, 2012. (Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

This will be most candidates’ only public appearance today before the polls close. That explains why seven voters are waiting at Webster School behind 17 wooden sawhorses, a brick wall and two cops, to shake hands with Jon Huntsman while surrounded by a huge swarm of journalists.

After weeks spent reporting on nothing that is happening quite yet, no reporter in New Hampshire wants to tell editors in New York, Washington or Copenhagen that he or she was too weak, meek or polite to capture the candidates’ final words before voters seal their fates, thus losing forever pearls like: “I feel great,” “We’re going to win this,” or “Onward and upward.”

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have already run this gantlet, and with each lost battle to capture the moment, the media’s desperation grows… Read More »

MANCHESTER, N.H. – One after another, GOP candidates have been talking generally on the stump about reconfiguring or decreasing reliance on social safety net programs like food stamps.

A voter wears a sticker after voting at Webster School in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have both railed against President Barack Obama, claiming he has fostered more government dependency. Newt Gingrich has said he’ll be the paycheck president while Mr. Obama is the food stamp president.

The talk is vague so far, but the discussion is generating some anxiety, even in New Hampshire, where unemployment is relatively low: 5.2% compared with 8.5% for the nation. Despite its seemingly good economic health, New Hampshire has seen a surge since 2007 in citizens seeking social assistance, according to the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau.

“New Hampshire’s safety net programs have been strained during the most recent recessionary period,” according to “Vital Signs 2011,” the bureau’s latest report of economic indicators in the state. The report says “the importance of social assistance programs comes to the forefront during a recession.”… Read More »

Newt Gingrich skipped a planned event at his own New Hampshire campaign headquarters Monday night in downtown Manchester, as about 75 cheering, jeering, dancing Ron Paul supporters and Occupy Wall Street protesters congregated in front of the office.

The Paul supporters brought signs and blared pro-Ron Paul songs through speakers on the roof of a car. They used a laser to flash the words “Ron Paul 2012″ in green lights on the Gingrich headquarters sign.

A pair dressed up as furry, pink pigs holding PETA placards added to the circus-like atmosphere.

“He’s scared of us,” said Alex Freid, a political science major at the University of New Hampshire. “He doesn’t want to answer our questions.”

Inside the campaign headquarters, Gingrich supporter Dan Shepard said he was disappointed, because he’d hoped to meet the man he had admired for decades.

“I don’t get those people,” he said, gesturing to the protesters outside. “If they want money out of politics, they should go after Obama. He’s got a billion dollars.” Read More »

Children popping up at Romney rallies is the icing on the campaign’s closing pitch: Mr. Romney is the most electable candidate – and parents want their children to meet a future president, aides say.

“When you see people start to bring their kids…you know what they’re telling him: This is a guy who’s got a chance to be president of the United States,” said Tom Rath, an adviser to the campaign in New Hampshire.

Reality is hardly so swooning.

“I did not understand a word he was saying,” Brooke Nelson, 10 years old, offered after hearing Mr. Romney speak at the Derry rally. Her parents, who support Mr. Romney, are hopeful it will become more meaningful as years go by… Read More »

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney comfortably won the Republican primary election in New Hampshire becoming the first non-incumbent GOP candidate to win both New Hampshire and Iowa — provided his razor-thin margin in Iowa holds.

In his victory speech, Mr. Romney focused on President Barack Obama, his favorite stump speech theme. “This president puts his faith in government,” Mr. Romney said. “We will put our faith in the American people.”

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas came in second, winning a large portion of the small youth vote. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who had staked his campaign on a strong showing in New Hampshire, placed third and vowed to take his campaign to South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 21.

Mitt Romney appears with family members at a victory rally at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., after winning the New Hampshire GOP presidential primary Tuesday. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

12:01 pm (EST)

Huntsman Supporters Gather at Mary's

Elizabeth Williamson

CONCORD, N.H.--This sunny, postage-stamp-sized diner doesn't seem like the place you'd hear much political rancor, but Jon Huntsman supporters and undecideds gathered at Mary's Bakery and Cafe in Henniker this morning had one thing in common: they opposed Mitt Romney in no uncertain terms.

After seeing Mr. Romney defend his record at Bain Capital, criticize Mr. Huntsman for serving as U.S. Ambassador to China under President Barack Obama, and cut other candidates off with protests of "I've still got time," in Sunday's televised debate, "he is just nasty," 72-year-oldÂ Ruth Curran said of Mr. Romney. "He will further divide the country." An independent voter, she is leaning toward Mr. Huntsman, who arrived shortly after she spoke, and worked the room, kissing two babies and skapping backs. Mr. Huntsman has jumped on Mr. Romney today in a barnstorming tour of small-town cafes and an informal rally in downtown Concord, saying there that "What's clear is [Mr. Romney] likes firing people, I like creating jobs."

Mr. Huntman's enjoying an uptick in popularity, and appears to be draining some of Mr. Romney's lead, though he's still only polling between 11% and 14%.

"I'm offering real solutions," he told the crowd in Henniker. His boost in the polls shows that campaigns can't be waged on Twitter, "you have to grind it out on the ground."

Newt Gingrich may be in fourth place in the New Hampshire polls but he remains a deft and formidable politician and one of the few candidates who have come into New Hampshire and been able to local leverage passion about two Granite State issues. The topics – veterans’ health clinics and a power lines slated to run through the state’s pristine North Country – have become two of the most dependable applause lines in his stump speech.

Mr. Gingrich realized on his first morning in New Hampshire at an event in Manchester that access to veterans’ health clinics mattered here when two of his first five or six questions came from veterans on that topic. The next day, he started speaking about poor access for veterans who had honorably served their country and were now living in the northern part of the state. By Thursday he was calling for the opening of additional clinics up north “so 70- and 80-year-old veterans wouldn’t have to drive all the way to Boston for treatment.”

His pivot on power lines was even more deft. During a swing through the North Country last week, he was peppered with questions about what he would do about a Quebec hydroelectric power company that wanted to build 130 foot tall towers through 40 miles of prime hiking and recreational land so they could string power lines to deliver electricity to the south. Within a day of hearing about the plan, Mr. Gingrich said he as president he would stop the project and force the company to rent land in the median strip along the state’s highways and bury the cables there.

“It’s a win-win,” he said Monday at an event in Dover. “And it would generate a significant amount of revenue for the state.” Read More »

TILTON, N.H.—Many political rallies in New Hampshire have the loosey-goosey feel of a high-school assembly. Not so the spaghetti dinner Mitt Romney hosted for supporters the other night in Tilton.

The Romney machine turned out so many people that the venue had to be changed to a larger one, and even then there was not just a full house but a second, overflow crowd in a separate room. The local police were called to control traffic, and the event site was marked with a truck festooned in flags and Romney signs, bathed in a specially installed spotlight. Inside, alongside the candidate, was a bonus attraction, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, flown in for the weekend.

This is the way a front-running campaign is supposed to look and feel, and Team Romney is playing the part in the run-up to Tuesday’s primary. It has New Hampshire organized the way a Chicago alderman organizes his neighborhood, with an elaborate phone network to keep supporters plugged in. Thousands of calls went out in recent days to be sure backers weren’t wandering away.

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